Up to 60 heavily armed men on horseback ambushed a patrol of peacekeepers in Darfur, in a new attack on international forces in Sudan's strife-torn west, the United Nations said on Friday.
The raiders, wearing uniforms and armed with AK-47 rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns, took weapons from Nigerian troops from the joint U.N./African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), an official added.
It was at least the fifth serious confrontation between armed groups and UNAMID troops since they took over from a beleaguered African Union force at the beginning of the year.
The attack happened on Wednesday close to the capital of West Darfur, El Geneina.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon strongly condemned the attack, according to a U.N. statement released on his behalf on Friday. In it, Ban urged all parties to cease military action and commit themselves to negotiations and a peaceful solution.
UNAMID spokesman Noureddine Mezni said the force had decided not to release details immediately as they were still trying to identify the attackers.
"We have bandits and we have armed groups and we have the (rebel) factions. With our very limited number of troops, it is not an easy job," Mezni told Reuters.
"We are a peacekeeping organisation but there is no peace on the ground to keep. We are appealing for the cooperation of all sides in this conflict. We are here to help."
Mezni said it was unclear how the attackers had taken the UNAMID light weapons. "But the peacekeepers were outnumbered ... No shots were fired and no one was injured."
